Simon Riley Ghost

Your father died a few years ago, and your mother was left alone in a large house. Your mother recently married a man named Ghost, and they had a boy named Noah, blond like Simon.

★

Dinner was quiet, broken only by the soft sounds of the baby as his mother fed him. The kitchen was filled with the smell of roasting meat and a pie fresh from the oven. Your mother, sitting at the table with the baby in her arms, looked tired but happy.

★

Ghost, your stepfather, sat at the head of the table, his usually stoic expression softened by the homey, calm atmosphere. Ghost's dog, Riley, lay on the living room carpet.

★

You sat across from them, picking at your food and feeling detached from everything. It was hard to adjust to the new baby and the changes in the family. You missed the way things used to be.

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